Chapter 3: Fear of the Dark
Christian woke up in a black void, it was unending on all sides and he couldn't see anything physical in his surroundings.
It felt…good.
It was like a warm bath slowly washing over his soul. It felt like his favorite song had just come on and he was about 3/4th of the way through a bottle of vodka.
He was clear headed, but the darkness was so intoxicating.
He was floating.
[This feels great.] Thought Chris as he tried to move his body and do a stretch.
[Mmmmm, the only thing that would make this better is if I could blow bubbles in the water.]
Chris floated in thought for hours, if not days…
[Ah…death, who knew you were so peaceful?]
The pleasure he was feeling was slowly decreasing over time, but there was a sudden change.
[What the hell? Where did the water go?]
Chris was attempting to move around but still had no real proof that he was successful.
Suddenly, a large presence could be felt and it washed Chris' soul in fear.
[W-w-what the hell?]
Chris turned his head to look at the place in the blackness but found no success. The thing watching him was slowly circling and stayed just out of his vision, or where his vision would be…
[Oh shit…] Chris felt like he was in the middle of a giant black lake and a shark was in the water with him. It was an irrational type of fear, but it was so visceral for him.
The thing was getting closer and closer, slowly swimming at him.
Chris didn't know what to do so he started to sing a song in his mind.
[-Have you run your fingers down the wall, and have you felt your neck skin crawl when you're searching for the light? Sometimes when you're scared to take a look at the corner of the room, you've sensed that something's watching you!! FEAR OF THE DARK! FEAR OF THE DARK! I have a constant fear that…something's…always…..near.]
[Oh man, that made it so much worse. I should have known better.] ☹
The "thing" was mere feet from him at this point. It was moving at a pace of a foot per day…
[What happens when it reaches me? Do I re-die? OR do I die, die, like for good? Am I waiting for anything?]
Chris was getting scared, he could feel the presence drift towards him, it was staring at him…wanting to devour him, but it stopped just inches from him when a large burst of light came from above.
It was like a supernova in brightness, but it somehow still managed to seem small in the vast darkness. Each individual strand of light could be seen traveling off forever in a direction.
The searing white-light contrasted by the cold darkness…it felt bad.
It was the disruption of the natural order.
Chris looked at his surroundings and he saw a freakish looing black creature. It looked like something off of the ocean's floor. It had spikes jutting out of its mouth and slimy near transparent flesh covering its small bones.
Chris might have thought it was a giant snake if it didn't look at him with its sunken eyes. It had intelligence, it could register Chris being aware of its presence and then as a strange force came from above, the creature turned to flee the scene.
It wasn't flapping its "tail", it was just heading away like it didn't need to move its body to move in this space.
The force from above was rather slow as he was lifted out of the eternal night.
He inched slowly towards it; the suction was unlike anything he had ever felt. It was what he imagined a blackhole would feel like once trapped in the event horizon.
[What the hell was that creature? How could I "FEEL" it looking at me? And how smart was it? It seemed like it recognized that I noticed it…what if it was smart, like dolphin smart…oh god.]
As Chris was nearly slowed down completely, he suddenly felt a sucking force more intense than anything his body had ever felt. (Including that one girlfriend.)
[PLEASE DON'T PROBE ME!!!!]
Chris circled the light's focal point and swirled out of existence.
…
…
"AHH!"
Chris awoke on a wooden floor. He knocked on it for a moment, [Is that mahogany?]
He then stood up to look around, but he nearly slipped. Chris saw that water was covering the floor but only where his clothes had touched.
[I must have laid here for a while, where in the world am I?]
He looked down and touched his chest, his shirt was wet but it wasn't making him chilly in the large room.
[WAIT!]
Chris suddenly touched the back of his head for a bullet wound, he ran his hand through his hair and felt nothing but the small mole that resided there.
A chill went down his spine, [I died…]
Chris stood there staring at the stairsteps to the next room.
[Chad and I actually died.]
Suddenly Chris shouted, "FUCK! THOSE STUPID FUCKING BASTARDS!!!" with a guttural pain.
He folded and began to weep for his friend, his brother.
[You stupid bastard…why did you have to be so stupid.]
Given the reactions on Chad's face at the time and the fact they called him a rat, it was clear that he didn't know it was a double trap meant to get both of them at once.
Chris was slumped there, his knees and feet jutting in unnatural angles. He didn't care right now, the world had already ended for him.
While Chris was seeping in his depression, from another room footsteps were heard.
A series of 3 sounds were calling off in a walking pattern, clearly headed in this direction. Chris didn't really give a fuck; he was sure that it didn't matter. What was the old man going to do, shoot him, again?
The old man rounded the corner and saw a sprawled-out dwarf on the floor.
"WHAT THE HELL?" Shouted the old-timer.
Chris looked up to meet his eyes to say, "Oh, hi." then dejectedly looked back at the floor.
"Dwarf, how did you make your way to my domain?"
Chris' eyebrow twitched slightly then he responded with, "Look here, I am not a fucking dwarf ya' old fart."
The old man was stunned, he had never had anyone talk to him that way. Most mortals and Gods spoke with great care around him.
"I apologize for my mistake, but I need to know how you got in."
The old man walked over to Chris and looked to Chris' left.
Sitting there was a semi-large aquarium but something was very wrong with it. The water was a very dark color, it was almost unsettlingly dark.
The man stuck his hand in and said, "Come see dad, Martha!"
After no more than 2 seconds, a smaller version of the deep-sea terror that Chris saw popped up.
Chris' eyes immediately registered that it was the same "fish", and the fish seemed to notice Chris as he popped up off of the floor and backed away.
"What is the matter dear, is something wrong?" Said the old man.
The small fish was wiggling around and trying to escape his touch. He was fearful of the outside for some reason.
Chris saw the way the fish was behaving and said, "Mister, you should probably not touch that thing!"
The man let out a hearty chuckle as he retracted his hand. He spun around and said, "Kid, what did you do to my Martha?" in a harsh tone.
"What? I didn't do anything to that "thing."
Chris began to back up even more when he suddenly froze and began following the old man.
"Well, it doesn't matter, I will get the truth. I will be seeing you for our next date Martha!"
The old man shouted that as they walked to his study, he began to glow slightly, and an ancient looking book appeared in his hand.
He blew the dust off of it, turned around to Chris who was wide-eyed at this situation and winked. Then he licked his finger and cracked open the now floating book.
"Ah, lets see here. Computers? Hmm, yes, okay. Ah! The cars, I like those."
The man was flipping page by page. He bent over to lean his cane against the spare chair then the pair sat down in old looking chairs that were surprisingly comfortable.
Chris still couldn't talk but recognized some of the things he was mentioning immediately.
"Oh, Saint Paul's Home, interesting. Kid I am going to be straight with you. How the hell did you get in my domain?"
The old man was fidgeting with the book but looking at Chris, waiting for an answer.
Chris felt free again and said, "Uh, I got shot and I was in darkness for almost 2-weeks. That "thing" or Martha, as you call it, was about to eat me when a light came down and pulled me out."
The old man sat there.
He stared at Chris.
Then he erupted into laughter, "Dude, that is so awesome! You came through a crack in the void and were able to survive, congratulations! According to your teenage years, THAT'S FUCKIN' METAL DUDE!"
The old man went for a high-five but Chris left him hanging.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone